Photovoltaic micro-plant market in Poland in 2018

At the end of 2018, the total output of photovoltaic plants operating in the Polish power grid system was almost 490 MW, including approx. 150 MW in small-scale and large-scale plants and approx. 340 MW in micro-plants. In 2018 alone, approximately 50 MW small-scale and large-scale PV plants with generation exceeding 50 kW were connected to the grid. This is much more than in the previous year, 2017, when 8.65 MW were connected to grids.

Polish market of photovoltaic farms constructed in the auction system is getting better and better. In 2018, the Ministry of Energy concluded auctions for approx. 500 MWp (approx. PLN 1.45 billion, EUR 336 million) and the plans include even larger ones. Important information for the investors is shorter time necessary for plant construction and sales of generated energy which is reduced from 24 to 18 months, comments Bogdan Szymański, Chairman of the Board of SBF Polska PV.

Record-breaking 2018

According to the gathered data, the Polish power and electricity system already includes more than 55,000 PV micro-plants in total. In 2018, more than 27,000 new PV micro-plants with total power exceeding 164 MWp were connected. Bogdan Szymański, Chairman of the Board of SBF Polska PV believes that the significant reduction of installation costs, combined with the rise of energy prices in 2018, was an additional factor that added momentum to the photovoltaic investments in Poland.

What is important is that more and more micro-scale and small-scale plants are constructed without grants, being financed with investor's cash or commercial credit/ lease facility. This is a particularly good indicator of stable market development, adds Szymański.

The highest number of PV micro-plants was connected by PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. and by Tauron. The number of photovoltaic micro-plants in the Polish power grid system in recent years has been clearly growing. In 2018, there were more PV micro-plants added than in previous years combined.

What is the reason for the success in the development of photovoltaic micro-plants in Poland? For sure, the net metering system, i.e. a system for annual balancing of the generated power and the power received from the grid, says Grzegorz Burek, Chairman of the Board and Chief Editor at Globenergia.

The second issue that needs to be emphasized is that PV installation cost is covered by a tax deduction scheme. When combined with the risk of rising prices of electricity, it definitely drives the market of photovoltaics forward. The next several years bring much optimism for the industry, although many companies start to face labour shortages, adds the Chief Editor.

In 2018, the average cost of construction of a 1 kWp PV micro-plant dropped by nearly 115 €, as compared to the previous year.

It is estimated that by the end of 2018 the value of photovoltaic micro-plants installed in 2018 was approximately 170 Mio, €. Due to the significant increase in the number of micro-plants, the value of the market in the past year is higher than the value for 2017, when it had been estimated at approx. 90 Mio. €.

Source: Globenergia

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